Macedonian FM: Prespa agreement is 'too big to fail'

The Macedonian foreign minister has said that the Prespa agreement over the Macedonia name dispute with Greece is "too big to fail".

Nikola Dimitrov spoke to Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview during an official visit to Ankara.

Dimitrov said the stakes that are involved and the words of praise coming from all over the world made the Prespa agreement crucial.

On Jan. 11, Macedonian parliament approved constitutional amendment to change the country's name to Republic of North Macedonia as part of the Prespa agreement.

In June, the Macedonian and Greek governments signed the Prespa Agreement, which required Macedonia to change its name and Greece to drop its objection to Macedonia joining NATO and becoming a member of the European Union (EU).

Dimitrov said the government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras received a vote of confidence from the parliament recently.

"So I think soon, in a matter of days, we will see this ratification in the Greek parliament," Dimitrov said.

Dimitrov said after that there will be voting of the accession protocol for Macedonia to join NATO in the Greek parliament, and with that ratification, the process will be finalized.

Calling the process historic, he said: "Macedonia has lost a generation waiting because of this name issue."

Dimitrov said Macedonia is a candidate country for the EU since 2005.

"After Turkey, we are the most experienced country in waiting (for EU membership)," he added.

Dimitrov said after the ratification process is complete in Greece, Macedonia's NATO membership will be faster than the country's EU membership.

"Formally, this will take place (NATO membership), depending on the speed of the processes in different parliaments, probably, early next year.

But in reality, we are going to be on the table very soon, maybe even in February or March this year," Dimitrov said.